Laguna Beach: A Coastal Paradise Awaits in This Artsy Beachtown

My family moved often around Southern California when I was a child, but I was able to spend middle school and high school in Orange County. Many a summer was spent on the beaches of Newport, Corona Del Mar, and Laguna Beach. I always loved Laguna because it’s an artsy hideaway with a jewel of a cove.

Find things to do and where to stay in Laguna Beach, here

Creatives feel at home in this charming beach town

Laguna Beach is a tiny triangular-shaped community that’s purposely kept small and intimate. There are smatterings of vintage cottages and bungalows throughout the town some housing art galleries, restaurants, and tiny boutiques. The Festival of the Arts Pageant of the Masters has been hosted there in the summer since 1932.

Community members dress up for the pageant as characters from famous paintings. They step into a picture frame and expertly replicate the masterpiece itself. The event started as a way to entice people to visit Laguna Beach during the 1932 Olympics. Visitors enjoy live music, art shows, chocolate tastings, and more. The Sawdust Art and Craft Festival takes place in the summer and the winter.

The Hotel Laguna

The historic Hotel Laguna sits on Pacific Coast Highway. It opened in 1888 but burned down and was demolished in 1928. The current hotel opened its doors in 1930. Luminaries like Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn, and John Barrymore have stayed there. If you go inside, you can take a look at the original guest registry.

Art is everywhere

The studio and art gallery of Robert Wyland, who is known for his marine murals and sculptures, is near the hotel. One of his famous “Whaling Walls” is painted on the side of the building. He has over 100 murals decorating walls all over the world. Part of the proceeds from the sales of his work goes toward marine environmental causes.

Nimble acrobats and fairy-like figures grace the sculpture garden of the Dawson Cole Fine Art Gallery. They were created by Richard MacDonald using live models instead of photographs or drawings.

Some of the subjects include Marcel Marceau and performers from Cirque Du Soleil. The gallery features the work of 10 accomplished artists including Chuck Close.

Fun Laguna Beach Facts

The skeleton of “The Laguna Woman,” was found in Laguna Beach in 1933 and dates back to 8,000 B.C.

The Tongva Indians lived there around 500 B.C. and called the area “Lagonas,” which meant ‘lakes” in their native language.

Pioneers began to arrive in the area as early as 1871 to stake out 160-acre claims. They planted eucalyptus to use for lumber but realized it wasn’t a good choice. Those trees still remain in town to provide shade.

Laguna Beach Lumber was in operation at 384 Forest St. from 1919-1975 owned by the Jahraus family. It’s the oldest continuous business in the town and provided lumber for an estimated 90% of the older buildings in Laguna.

The wood had to be floated in on ships or hauled by mules because Laguna Beach wasn’t easily accessible as it is now. The Lumberyard buildings are French in style and are now used to house office buildings, a restaurant, and shops. They look the same on the outside as they did when it first opened over a century ago.

A battalion of Mormon soldiers came to Laguna Beach and settled in 1847. They had a huge influence on the development of the area.

The town is known for its greeters. The first was a Portuguese man named Joe Lucas who began greeting people as they arrived on stagecoaches starting in 1880. The most famous Laguna Beach “greeter” was Eiler Larson, from Denmark who held his post for 37 years until he died in 1975. I remember seeing him standing on the street during the ’60s and 70s waving to cars as they passed by.

The “Art Colony” was formed in Laguna Beach in 1903 by a group of local artists the town has remained art-centric ever since. You can see street art everywhere you look.

Laguna Beach was a hippie haven from 1970 – 1979. A rock concert, known as “Woodstock West” was held in Laguna Canyon. (I spent time in some of the “bohemian” hideaways in the Laguna Hills during that time.)

Laguna Beach attracted an influx of LGBTQ to the community during the 1980s and elected its first gay mayor in 1982.

The Laguna Beach Historical Society is housed in a vintage beach bungalow built in 1923 at 278 Ocean Ave. It’s open to visitors most Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 1 pm – 4 pm. The city of Laguna is strict with building development and each structure’s appearance must preserve the unique architectural style that gives the town its charm.

Laguna Beach is an affluent community but prides itself on being environmentally conscious and generous to its homeless population. Old parking meters have been installed throughout the city painted decoratively by artists. All donations to the parking meters go to feed the homeless.

For more information about this fabulous art colony and beach town, go to the website Visit Laguna Beach to find current things to do and see there.